


The Last Room

by ExplodedPen



Series: Little Britain [2]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-25
Updated: 2005-11-25
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplodedPen/pseuds/ExplodedPen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lies and truth make the world go round.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Another brain twisty story... Whoops?

**The gentle beeping of the two machines and the sounds of soft breathing were the only noise in the room. The walls, once white, were now stained with blast marks. The iron door that led to the room was riddled with dents. Some sort of fight had happened here.**

**A figure in the corner watched two monitors, mumbling to herself and listlessly tapping her fingers. Brown stains marred a once clean white uniform and the dank, putrid smell of rotting flesh filled the room.**

**But in the midst of the decay, lay two beds, the occupants seemed untouched by the decay that had wormed its way into the room.**

**The machines by one of the beds beeped with increasing frequency, the increasing pitch drowned out the steady hum of another machine. Drugs were immediately deployed to make the subject sleep, but the connection between the drug line and the subject was malfunctioning.**

**Back-up systems responded fluently. But it was too late. There was a shaky intake of breath.**

**Trip Tucker had woken up.**

Malcolm jerked awake, sweating heavily. Beside him, his wife stirred.

"Bad dream?" she asked blearily.

"It's nothing," said Malcolm breathlessly. "Go back to sleep, I'm fine."

He moved from the bed and silently padded across the room into the bathroom. After relieving himself, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror. To all intent and purpose he looked perfectly normal – alright, a little tired and obviously sweaty, but otherwise fine.

Malcolm lightly traced a scar on his stomach and sighed. He'd dreamed of the planet again. He'd dreamed of waking in a white room, with technicians leaning over him and Trip. But as usual, before he could work out what was happening, the technicians would notice and drug him into oblivion.

He shook his head, running a tired hand through his hair. His wife appeared beside him and gave him a reassuring hug.

"Same dream as last time?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "It was years ago, I don't know why I'm having these dreams again."

"We are about to go past that same planet again," she reminded him. "Perhaps that's why…"

Malcolm sighed; she laid a comforting hand on his cheek, gently turning his head so he was looking at her. "It was just a dream, nothing more." She gave him a small smile and led him back to bed. "Sleep."

He wanted to say no, but he knew that she wouldn't go back to bed if he didn't get some more sleep too. He crawled back under the covers and she curled up beside him.

"The baby's kicking," she said suddenly. She grabbed hold of Malcolm's hand and placed it on her bump. "Feel that?"

Malcolm nodded a wide grin spread across his face. For now at least, his dream had been pushed aside. The kicking stopped and his wife turned to face him beaming.

He gave her a soft kiss. Then he watched as she fell asleep before following suit, a nagging feeling gnawed at his gut, but the dream did not return again that night.


	2. Distress Call

Malcolm silently crept out his quarters early next morning leaving his wife fast asleep on the bed.

Nodding in greeting to those he passed he wandered down to the mess hall. Checking his watch he suddenly doubled his pace and moments later arrived outside the Captain's mess.

The door opened just as he was about to press the chime. The Captain grinned cheerfully. "Morning!"

"I hate it when you do that," Malcolm complained offering the Captain a good-natured smile. "It's very disconcerting."

"It's not hard," the Captain shrugged. "You arrive at the same time every morning. It's all in the timing."

Malcolm sat down. "Only because I know that if I dare turn up late you will never stop reminding me till the day I die about the one time I was late for breakfast."

Trip grinned and watched as one of galley staff brought in the food. "So, no Emma this morning?"

"She's sleeping," Malcolm replied carefully spreading peanut butter on his pancakes.

Trip suddenly yawned, he yawned so wide that it looked to Malcolm like he was trying to swallow the entire table. Irritatingly enough the yawn seemed to be contagious and Malcolm found his mouth stretching open mere seconds later.

"I didn't sleep well last night," Trip admitted. He took a generous gulp of coffee. "I was dreaming about that godforsaken planet again."

Malcolm sighed. "We are due to pass over it any second."

Right on cue the comm. beeped. "Bridge to Captain Tucker."

Trip reached over and tapped it. "Tucker here."

"Captain, we're receiving a distress call from The Planet."

Malcolm froze, his fork hanging suspended over his pancakes. They had arrived at the planet. Not any old planet. The Planet.

_Malcolm woke with a jerk. Hands were roaming all over his battered and bruised body, unnaturally cold hands that were probing every wound. His mind went on fast forward as he remembered the shuttle crash in all its technicolour glory._

Malcolm jerked out his memory as Trip finally responded to the Bridge Crew.

"I'll be right there," said Trip, glancing across at Malcolm. "Tucker out."

Trip turned back to the table and downed the rest of his coffee. Then, wordlessly, they both rose and headed for the bridge.

Malcolm took the tactical station while Trip got to up speed on events.

The Planet, The Planet that had haunted Malcolm's dreams for months after the shuttle crash and ever since he'd found out they were passing by again. The Planet he and Trip had been pulled from, barely alive, looking like the slowest runners in a horror film.

The Planet he knew was inhabited, The Planet that taunted him and made him and Trip appear like fools to Starfleet.

Sure, Starfleet couldn't deny that two sets of identical injuries couldn't have resulted from the shuttlepod crash, but Starfleet could deny that the officers had been taken, for no scans found any sign of buildings, biosigns, nearby ships or warp trails less than two days old. The incident was duly ignored and Trip and Malcolm were told to forget about it (to paraphrase a dull and lengthy speech).

Malcolm hurriedly started running scans. He couldn't believe it as the results came in.

Trip stared at his friend. "Well?"

An odd look passed over Malcolm's face. "We were right."

Trip turned to the comm. officer. "Any response from The Planet?"

She shook her head. "I've tried all frequencies but they aren't responding."

"I'm not able to detect any bio signs, Captain," said Lieutenant Joseph Walters from the science console. "Our scanners can't penetrate the building."

"But there is definitely a building down there," Malcolm added more to reassure himself than anything. "An extremely large building."

**Trip's breathing increased. The woman stood up, her hands nervously smoothing the bloody uniform.**

**"They'll see," she whispered fearfully. "You'll end up like Iona. They'll see. They're watching, always watching."**

**She suddenly darted forward and hesitantly grabbed hold of Trip's head. "Keep breathing," she whispered. "Keep breathing, they'll kill me if you stop. They'll kill me. Keep breathing. Keep breathing."**

**Trip's eyes widened further and he tried to speak, but the only sound that issued from his mouth was an illegible croak. She patted his head awkwardly.**

**"Just keep breathing," she said. "I'm your Angel. Do as I say, keep breathing."**

**Her head snapped round to look up at an object in the corner of the room. "Just keep breathing."**

**Trip gradually managed to quell his rising panic and his breathing resumed a near enough, normal rhythm. His eyes stung as his gaze flickered from one object to the next, finally resting on the occupant of the bed next to him.**

**His eyes took in every detail of the eerily pale skin that looked like it had been stretched over a skeleton. The eyes were closed and the lips stood out in stark contrast to the white skin. There were several tubes inserted into one arm and restraints held him securely in place. He was as naked as the day he was born.**

**But there was no doubting who it was.**

**It was Malcolm Reed.**

Trip seemed to be studying the picture on the viewscreen. Malcolm stared down at the results on his console an almost gleeful expression on his face being barely concealed by a mask of absolute proffessionalism.

"Are you sure you can't hail them?" Trip asked finally.

Ensign Lily Chambers nudged several buttons on her console and paused a moment. "No, sir, there's no response, just the distress call playing over and over."

"Lets hear it then." Trip gestured to Chambers console. She nodded and pressed something.

The message was chilling. A female voice repeated over and over. "Help us! Help us! We're under attack! Help us! They're everywhere! We can't hold this complex any longer! He-" The final word was always cut short and a lingering scream of agony sounded across the bridge.

Trip made a stopping gesture and the last scream was blissfully cut short. "Are there any ships nearby?"

Malcolm's head shot up in surprise, surely Trip wasn't going to leave? Not when they were so close to having real, tangible proof that they had indeed been captured by unknown hostiles on the planet six years beforehand.

"No, there's no one nearby," Walters replied carefully.

Trip nodded. "Malcolm, Lily, Joe, meet me in the shuttlebay, we're going to see if we can help. Baker you have the bridge."

"Captain," Malcolm called.

Trip sighed and slowly turned to face Malcolm."We're just answering a distress call, Malcolm."

"Yes, from The Planet," Malcolm reminded him. Another memory sprang to mind and he remembered the white hot pain that had lanced through his stomach. It seemed Trip remembered as well for his hand rose and Trip subconsciously rubbed his stomach.

Looking down, Malcolm found he was doing the same thing. He was rubbing an old scar, a scar six years old that showed no sign of fading. He yanked his hand away and rested it on his console.

The rest of theBridge Crew watched the exchanged with interest, it was common knowledge that the two senior officers had served together for years. They were prone to moments of just staring at each other or saying incomplete sentences that meant nothing to everyone else but obviously meant something to each other.

"Just a distress call," Trip repeated stepping into the turbo-lift. Malcolm scowled. The Bridge Crew quickly looked away.


	3. Emotionally Unstable

**The woman stared down at him, chewing her lip nervously; she released his head and glanced back at the object on the wall. A soft sigh escaped her and she smoothed down her bloody uniform once more.**

**Trip tore his eyes away from Malcolm and they swivelled round to rest on the woman. He tried to force his uncooperative muscles to move but only succeeded in briefly twitching his pathetically limp fingers.**

**The woman moved back to her previous seat, examining the monitors. "It's a malfunction, not my fault," she wailed suddenly. "They can't take that out on me! I'm an Angel not an Engineer!"**

**Trip glanced around the room once more, taking careful effort not to look at Malcolm again. He felt disorientated and confused, one minute he had been in engineering talking with Hess, the next he'd found himself falling into nothing before waking in this strange room.**

**Suddenly a harsh, high pitched whine of an alarm sounded from where Malcolm was laying. Trip's head lolled to face Malcolm. Behind him the woman released a scream of pure anguish and terror. His eyes widened as he watched his friend in the throes of a seizure, the restraints holding him to the bed barely managing to keep Malcolm in place.**

**His vocal chords, though rusty and unused were coaxed into croaking two words. "Help him."**

Malcolm carefully and meticulously ran checks on the four phase pistols in front of him before deeming them satisfactory for the mission ahead. He strode from the armoury and handed one to each officer.

Trip came out of the shuttlepod and accepted the phase pistol from Malcolm. He waited for Lieutenant Walters and Ensign Chambers to climb in before catching hold of Malcolm.

"We're answering a distress call," said Trip staring straight into Malcolm's eyes. "This isn't about what happened to us."

"I'm fully aware of the mission, Captain," Malcolm replied evenly. "But I'm less inclined to forget about the possible hostility of the people we're helping." He motioned to his stomach. "For all we know this could be a trap."

Trip grinned inexplicably. "That's what I like about you Malcolm; you're always a little ray of sunshine."

Malcolm scowled and climbed into the shuttlepod. Trip's grin faded and he rubbed his stomach before climbing in.

**She tentatively moved over to the side of Malcolm's bed. Trip's words echoed round her head reviving some forgotten training involving situations like this. Her head swivelled round to the object on the wall. "I have to wake him."**

**"Help him!" Trip repeated, injecting as much plea and urgency into his voice as he could muster. It infuriated him not being to do anything, not being able to help his friend, he loathed his weakness.**

**Carefully, she leaned over and keyed in several commands. The seizure subsided and the machine stopped its steady beep.**

**Trip's heart leapt into his throat as the beep stopped, he'd assumed the machine was some sort of vital sign monitor but the steady rise and fall of Malcolm's too thin chest assured him he was not alone.**

**The woman sighed. "I had to do it. He's sleeping." She stared at Trip a moment and burst into furious tears.**

**A tall, imposing figure strode in through the battered doorway. His uniform in tatters.**

**"Isobel!" He roared. "What the hell is going on here!"**

**The woman trembled in fear, tears still streaking down her face. "Iyen, I had to…he was….I had to!"**

**Iyen grabbed her roughly by the throat and slammed her up against the wall. "Do nothing without authorisation!" He screamed furiously. "Do nothing! Your pathetic worthless existence is to watch over your charges! Do nothing! You stupid ignorant fool!"**

**"Leave…her…alone…" Trip managed.**

**Iyen released Isobel and stormed over to Trip. He wrapped a strong hand around Trip's oddly thin arm. "No one asked for your opinion, Subject Alpha."**

**"Don't hurt him!" Isobel shrieked.**

**Iyen backhanded her across the face and she fell to the ground sobbing. "There's more where he came from," He snapped.**

**"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"**

**"Watch over them!" Iyen ordered racing from the room.**

**Isobel remained on the ground sobbing and Trip was struck with the realisation he was in hell. His horrified, confused train of thought was interrupted with the sudden awakening of Malcolm.**

**Malcolm's eyes darted around the room, his mind a confusion of memories each one seemingly contradicting the last. Recognition dawned on him and as Isobel shuffled into his field of vision, he suddenly recognised her uniform. Reality came crashing down around his head and he screamed. A long unending scream that came from the realisation he'd been lied to.**

**Iona hadn't killed him. She had injected him back into the scenario, doomed to be a subject of ever watchful tests and fantasy.**

All four officers glanced at each other. The alarm blared above them, signalising their presence with the repeated scream of "INTRUDER ALERT!"

Malcolm, with a hint of humour in his expression turned to Trip. "A distress call, huh?"

Walters grinned. "Sir, in our business, it's never just a distress call."

His grin faded seconds later when he tripped over a corpse.


	4. Slidin' Down the Recycling Chute

"I don't like the look of this," Malcolm muttered hauling a stunned Walters to his feet.

Ensign Chambers bent down to examine the body. "This has been here a while, sir. It's already decaying."

It wasn't entirely clear which of the others she was addressing and they all stared at her a moment before their gaze travelled towards the body.

The physique suggested the deceased was male, although they couldn't be entirely sure. The uniform had once been grey in colour, with white markings on one sleeve. A hole about the size of Malcolm's fist had been punched through the body – presumably what had killed the alien. The face had frozen in an expression of sheer annoyance.

"I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of whatever made that hole," said Malcolm quietly.

"There's more bodies," said Trip nodding to a darkened corner of the room where remnants of what had once been the alien equivalent of a wall of sandbags still stood. An arm without an owner seemed to be directing them through the door.

"If there is anyone left I seriously doubt they won't shoot first, ask questions later," said Malcolm casting his gaze down the darkened corridor. "But they know we're here."

"First console we find I want to see if there's a way to shut the alarm off," said Trip.

They cautiously went through the doorway into the next room – not cautiously enough however as the floor literally disappeared seconds later.

**Trip wanted to block out the noise, he wanted to close his eyes and wake up in his quarters. He wanted to block out the sound of Malcolm screaming. He tried to calm Malcolm down, but the words were so quiet Malcolm couldn't even here him over the sound of the screams.**

**Isobel stood watching him, her cheek bright red where Iyen had hit her and tear tracks pushing through the dirt on her face. Finally she did the only thing her addled mind could think of, she slapped Malcolm round the face.**

**The slap echoed eerily round the room, the silence was possibly even more disturbing than the frenzied screams from before.**

**"Malcolm," Trip croaked.**

**Malcolm didn't answer him, he remained almost motionless except for the quick rise and fall of his chest. Trip tried again. "Malcolm…"**

**"You're dead," came the whispered reply. "None of this is real."**

**"It's all real," Isobel hissed suddenly. "The blood, the dead, the injured, it's all real."**

**"Just another scenario!" Malcolm shouted in frustration. "JUST ANOTHER SCENARIO!"**

**"It's not!" Isobel screamed back. "It's not a scenario! You pray it is, you yearn for the bliss of ignorance and yet when you wake up you're still here! You're still here trapped in the confines of a reality you were never meant to exist in! Yet you keep on fighting to live and you watch as more of your colleagues…friends are killed and replaced because you don't know what else to do! You will never know how lucky you are!"**

**"Lucky!" Malcolm shot back furiously. "You took my life from me! You stuck me in some facsimile of my life and used me as a guinea pig…" His voice gave out and he started to cough.**

**Trip's head was spinning as he tried to process what was going on. "Malcolm!"**

**Isobel loomed over Trip, her eyes disturbingly wide. "Do you know what it's like?" she whispered laughing hysterically. "Do you know what it's like to see someone die? Do you know what it feels like to know you don't belong in this world, that you are a medical mutant? Do you know what it feels like to watch screens day in, day out as people live their lives?" She leaned on him, almost nose to nose with him. Trip turned his head away and tried not to wrinkle his nose at the smell, it was clear Isobel had not washed in quite some time.**

**Isobel blinked and glanced back at the object on the wall. "They'll kill me. I'll be recycled like the others." She backed away and returned to her monitors.**

**Trip looked over at Malcolm. "You're bleeding."**

**Malcolm ignored him and continued to bit down on his lower lip. Trip tested whether he could move again and was rewarded with a slight twitch of his left hand. Glancing back at Malcolm he realised his friend was still in the process of shredding his lip.**

**"Malcolm, stop it."**

**The reply when it came was so quiet Trip had to strain to hear it. "Iona told me you'd died."**

**Trip opened his mouth to say something and then closed it abruptly. Malcolm clamped down harder on his lip fighting to keep his emotions in check. Isobel sighed.**

**"That was what Iona was told; I was told you had died only for you to be moved into here." Isobel gave a hollow laugh. "Lies make the world go round."**

The away team fell for what seemed like an eternity till they hit metal and slid down a chute before finally slamming onto a concrete floor.

"That's gonna hurt come winter," Walters joked groaning as he extracted himself from Malcolm.

Malcolm glared at him and pulled out his phase pistol. A blue beam descended on them.

"It's scanning us," said Trip pulling out his own scanner.

"Welcome, Commander. Charles. Tucker. The Third. Welcome, Lieutenant. Malcolm. Reed," the distorted voice of a computer echoed round the room. "Welcome, guests. Please wait. To be. Recycled."

"Recycled?" Chambers asked worriedly.

"And not the good kind either," Trip muttered.

Trip scanned the room for a possible exit; to his right he could see Malcolm doing the same thing.

"We're sealed in," Walters whispered.

The computer's voice echoed round the room again. "Commander. Tucker. Lieutenant Reed. Please. Move aside. So the guests. Can be. Recycled."


	5. The Fifth

"Is this a bad time to mention I have an allergy to death?" Walters asked quietly, trying to inject humour into the situation.

Lily swatted the back of his head. Malcolm merely tuned him out and glanced across at Trip.

"If we stay near them they won't die," Trip said quietly. "They want us alive…"

Trip found himself quickly reassessing his last statement.

"Commence. Recycling."

They all heard the whir of a machine starting up, Malcolm span round checking for exit points once more. There was nothing, only four walls, even the chute they'd dropped out of had now been silently and smoothly sealed off.

Malcolm turned to Trip, they were seconds away from certain death, he couldn't say goodbye to Emma, he would never even say hello to his child, but he could say goodbye to his best friend. "Trip…"

"If you tell me it's been an honour," Trip interrupted him. "I'm going to kill you."

There was a long drawn out sound of the computer spluttering followed by a crash of epic proportions from inside the left hand side wall. The tinny voice of the computer sounded round the room once more. "Recycling failure. Please report to. I-Officer. For manual. Recycling."

The wall on the right slid out of the way and a body tumbled onto the floor.

**Isobel burst into hysterical laughter. "Lies! It's all based in lies! Lies to the public! Lies to the employees! Lies to the army! And lies to the world!"**

**"Then end the lie!" Malcolm screamed. "Kill me! Don't send me back into the scenario!"**

**"Malcolm!" Trip exclaimed in shock.**

**Isobel's hysterical laughter stopped and she turned to Malcolm, patting his cheek awkwardly. "You don't have a choice. I don't have a choice. I exist to watch. You exist to teach. There is no other option."**

**"You're studying us," Trip guessed. "You put us into the…the scenario to study human existence."**

**Isobel clapped her hands slowly. "It's nothing personal you understand, they don't care who they take. They just pull you right off the streets. That's what happened to me you know. I was shopping for a present for my daughter when they took me."**

**"Then you understand," said Malcolm, his face cold, impassive. "You understand that we're being held against our will."**

**"I never saw you complaining!" Isobel screeched. "You didn't know any different! You quite happily lived your life, played soldier and blew up stuff! You only knew your life wasn't real when you woke up here! You know nothing of what it's like to live with the knowledge that your life is nothing but a medical experiment to efficiently equip a building with a cheap labour force!"**

**She released a howl of rage and ripped one of her monitors up from her work station. She threw it against the wall where it shattered, spraying everyone with shards of a glass type substance. Trip hissed in pain as the shards nicked him and embedded in his skin. Malcolm didn't even twitch.**

**Isobel's head jerked round to stare at the object on the wall. She stood there panting from exertion, fists clenched and her entire body tense as if she expected something to happen.**

**Her face split into a wide grin. "They're dead! I'm not recycled! I'm not recycled!"**

**She danced round the room, Trip blinked; the sudden, swift changes in mood were beginning to confuse him. Head spinning he tried to collect his whirling thoughts. In the end all he managed was realising he had lost all hope of knowing what was happening.**

**"Time to tell everything!" Isobel exclaimed triumphantly. "Everything! No more lies! Just the truth. The beautiful, painful, excruciating truth!"**

**She whirled round to lean against Trip. "Did you know I'm the fifth version?" she asked conversationally. "The first three learnt to hack the system; the fourth successfully hacked the system and saved the data she discovered where she knew I would find it. And I the fifth, I know all! I know everything!" She paused and her eyes took on a haunted look. "I would never have known of the others if it wasn't for the fourth. I would never have known anything. I would never have known of the medical experiments. I would never have known." A twisted smile decorated her face. "But I do know. And this time I won't be recycled. This time I won't be stopped."**

**Trip opened his mouth to ask some much needed questions when Isobel twitched and her gaze flickered over to the door. Her smile faded.**

**"But they're watching. They're always watching. If I tell the world my family will pay. I can't have something happen to them. The original needs them. I'm just the fifth, I don't matter. The original must survive with our family. Perhaps the watcher is malfunctioning, Iyen will return for me."**

**Her hands nervously smoothed down her uniform. "There was a war. There was death. But they will return. They watch from afar and they know everything. Iyen and I are all that remains, but they will return here for the experiments."**

Malcolm moved first. He leaned into the next room, phase pistol still in hand checking for any danger. The room was littered with corpses, blast marks adorned the walls and a sparking computer console was just to his left. The smell was terrible and he took care not to breathe too deeply.

He motioned for the others to join him and Trip immediately went to the computer console. Walters moved to help his captain and Lily gazed with interest at a small plaque on the wall.

Trip examined the circuitry and winced when he saw the perfect round hole shot into the side

"This is a lost cause,"Trip sighed. "Shot to pieces."

"Captain," Lily called excitedly. "Come look at this!"

Trip moved over to Lily's side. "What is it?"

"When I first saw this the characters were unrecognisable," she explained. "But the second I put the UT near it the characters shifted into English! This system is adapting to us!"

She pointed to the plaque and beamed. It read: 'We fight for them. We learn for them. We exist for them. We do this for the people.'

Walters took out his scanner and gasped. "Sir, we have a lifesign…"

The wall ahead slid back, a single shot was fired and Walters hit the ground.


	6. Doppelganger

The scene became oddly detached as Trip watched Walters hit the ground, everything seemed to slow. It felt like he was watching himself push Lily behind one of the leftover barricades from whatever fight had happened there previously.

He watched himself raised his phase pistol, just in time for a muscular, breathing, living version of one of the corpses to throw himself at Malcolm.

To Malcolm, it felt like he'd just had a small tank slam into his midsection. Winded and stumbling, Malcolm was incredibly surprised to find that the punch he threw back at the attacker actually made contact.

Of course a second later, Malcolm had the vague sense that he had just punched something reinforced with concrete.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Trip and Lily with their phase pistols out. The alien was screaming nonsensical words at him and started to hit any available body part. The alien knocked Malcolm down and pinned him to the ground. A well placed punch had Malcolm seeing stars.

The phase pistols weren't working; the alien simply shook off the shots. Trip upped the setting and fired again. This time the alien grunted and turned to Trip screaming another stream of nonsense.

In all the commotion, Walters had been able to crawl unnoticed to where the alien's weapon had been discarded. His fingers lightly brushed the handle…

Trip kept firing giving Malcolm chance to move away, Lily joined him. The alien staggered for a moment before lunging at Trip.

Trip felt something warm spray across his face and watched in morbid fascination as the alien slowly sank to the ground in front of him – minus the back of his head.

Walters dropped the alien gun and let himself flop back down. Lily ran to his side.

"Joe!"

He didn't respond for a moment. Lily bent down and winced. Walters' leg was a mess, the bullet had been slightly off target but it had still ripped through the side of his leg. "Joe! Speak to me!"

Walters blinked and offered her a smile. Malcolm staggered towards them panting. Trip merely stared at the body on the floor in front of him before slowly moving to join them.

"We need to get him out of here," said Malcolm gesturing towards the leg.

Trip bent down to examine Walters' leg. Trip unzipped the top half of his uniform and whipped off his black shirt. He zipped his uniform up again and used the shirt to apply pressure on Walters wound.

Walters gasped, Lily held his hand tightly. Malcolm glanced round the room. Every door had closed…bar one. The only open door was the one the alien had come barrelling through.

"We're being manipulated!" Malcolm exclaimed suddenly. "Everywhere we go only certain doors open, we're being led somewhere!"

"Probably to more never-die aliens," said Lily looking worriedly across at Trip. "Captain, what are we going to do?"

Trip paused a moment. There was no other choice. If they stayed where they were Walters would almost certainly bleed out and die in some alien facility. If they left there was a possibility they would find an exit…or at least who had been leading them round. Walters sighed.

"D'ya think you can walk?" Trip asked finally.

Walters closed his eyes for a second and nodded. Trip secured the makeshift shirt bandage in position and with Malcolm's help brought Walters to his feet. Lily moved forward to take his weight.

The lights came on in the corridor up ahead. Malcolm raised his phase pistol and led the way. When they had made it through, the door slid shut and a new one opened up on the right.

The plaque on the wall faded into English. It said simply: 'Records'

The second all of them were in the room, the lights dimmed, the door slid shut and a recording began to play, the voice echoing round the room.

_**Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 6205:** _

_Two aliens have been found in a crashed spacecraft on the eastern side of the complex. I-officers Iyen and Iso were sent on retrieval and took them to Angels Iona and Isobel for downloading._

_They were both brought to me. According to procedure their wounds were not treated and an appropriate sample was retrieved from both._

_The largest alien, Original Alpha, woke during the procedure and the smallest, Original Brava, woke during the initial examination._

_After procedure completion Iyen and Iso returned the aliens to their spacecraft where they were retrieved 60 minutes later._

_Not long after this the samples collected were injected into the main system and subjects Alpha and Brava were prepped to receive Original Alpha and Brava memories._

_They were returned to Angels Iona and Isobel approximately 120 minutes later._

**_Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 6206:_ **

_Created a new version of Subject Alpha and proceeded with dissection. Even without memories I found it interesting to note that Subject Alpha still displayed emotion and screamed as I cut it open…_

_... I have begun mapping their genetic code. If possible a female of this species should be found for further study._

**_Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8027:_ **

_Angel Iona has reported that Subject Brava is not responding well to the switch in the scenario. I have supplied her with drugs to keep him under._

_On examination, Subject Brava appears healthy._

_Angel Isobel was found dead at her station, cause of death - electrocution. This suggests she attempted unauthorised access into the Main Computer. However, They have ordered that Angel Isobel be recreated immediately. In the meantime Subject Alpha is being watched over by Nurse Iona._

**_Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8031:_ **

_Subject Brava awoke from the scenario due to the incompetence of Angel Iona. Angel Iona inserted Subject Brava into a Mercy Scenario before being recycled by Iyen._

_Angel Iona will not be recreated. The previous five models have shown that she is an unreliable worker. Her sample has been erased from the computer._

_Subject Brava has been removed to Angel Isobel's care._

**_Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8191:_ **

_The facility has come under attack; I fear this will be my last recording before the end. Enemy troops have broken in. I-Officers are being slaughtered faster than they can be recreated._

_The only remaining Subjects not murdered by the enemy are Subjects Alpha and Brava. I have instructed Iyen to guard them..._

_What? No! Please! I beg you! I knew nothing! Spare me! Have mercy! Aaaargh!_

Repeated shots echoed round the room and the recording fell silent. The lights came back on. Both Malcolm and Trip had their hands on their stomachs as if trying to feel their identical scars through the fabric of their uniforms.

"They cloned you!"Lily whispered. She swallowed trying to quell her rising nausea. "Oh God, they dissected a living clone of you, they're studying living clones of you."

There was no answer.


	7. The Last Room

"Come on," Lily called desperately. "Sirs, we have to keep moving, Joe's still bleeding."

Walters turned his head sluggishly to stare at her. He pretended to pat his leg and grinned. "Plenty more where that came from," he told her, a hint of a slur creeping into his words.

Malcolm turned to face her, shoving all the information he'd just received into a tiny box at the back of his mind, he could deal with it later, for now he figured it was best to ignore it. He tugged at Trip's arm and all four of them stumbled into the next room.

"Looks like we found their sickbay," Malcolm whispered to himself.

"Or their morgue," Trip muttered, overhearing him.

There were bodies everywhere, uniforms stained with dried blood, vomit and sweat adorning those of the Doctors and Nurses who had clearly been tending to their patients when they were shot. It was a grim sight.

Trip and Malcolm began rifling through the compartments on the right hand wall, studiously ignoring the dead and attempting to keep the new information of before locked away deep in their minds.

"There's nothing here!" Trip exploded, slamming one shut. "They must've used all the bandages, that's even if they use them at all!"

Lily leaned Walters up against one of the walls and moved over to some cupboards set into the far wall. "I'll check in here." She pulled the nearest door open, somewhat surprised at how heavy it was. She peered into its gloomy depths, pulling a face at the atrocious smell, it took a second for her eyes to adjust and when they did she found a pair of eyes staring right back at her.

The blue eyes, the sharp facial structure, the thin lips, the dark brown hair, the familiar facial features she knew so well barely recognisable under surgical cuts. He resembled Frankenstein's monster and Lily wanted to slam the door shut, wanted to forget what she'd seen, but her traitorous hand refused to move and her gaze couldn't be averted.

Behind her she could still hear Trip and Malcolm rifling through the compartments, and slowly she closed the door, knowing that those dead, accusing eyes, never left her face.

"Anything?" Malcolm asked her.

"No bandages in there," Lily replied.

Malcolm nodded and continued his search. Lily found herself staring at him, mentally imagining the surgical scars appearing on his face and down his body. Quickly she averted her gaze and moved back over to Walters, the wall on the right slid open to reveal a long corridor.

"There's nothing here, we obviously found what we were supposed to," said Lily quickly.

Trip sighed and scrubbed at his face with his hand. "We didn't find anything…unless it was something you saw in the cupboard."

"Just another dead body," Lily replied before becoming very interested in Walters injury. "The bleedings slowed a little…it's hard to tell really."

"I agree with Lily, there's nothing here," Malcolm said slamming the last compartment shut.

Trip turned to Walters. "Joe, you holding up ok?"

Walters nodded tiredly. "Could run a marathon, Cap'n."

"Let's go then," said Trip, giving Walters shoulder a quick squeeze before moving on.

Lily helped Walters up and followed on behind Malcolm. Walters sighed.

"Which one did you find?" He muttered quietly.

Lily's head snapped up and she froze. "How…?"

"Bad poker face," Walters told her.

Lily started moving again, with Walters hobbling alongside her. "It was…Reed." The words were spoken so softly that Walters barely heard them. He gave her a weak pat of comfort.

Malcolm glanced back at the two slow moving officers worriedly before turning his attention back to the corridor. It was long and wide with doors on each side, all seemed to be fused shut, except one. The last room on the corridor had its door open, and he could hear voices from within.

He motioned for the others to remain where they were as he moved towards the door. Trip ignored him and went with him.

Malcolm rounded the door and froze. "Oh my God."

Trip glanced in, mentally preparing himself.

There was a scream of anguish from inside. "No! You can't see! You must leave! You have to leave!"

The two officers watched dumbstruck as the hysterical source of the scream tried to unsuccessfully block their view.

"SHUT UP!" One of the men lying strapped to one of the tables screamed. "Shut up, you banshee! They've seen! They know! It's over, Isobel! They've found us!"

Isobel span round sobbing and struck the man sharply round the face. "It can't be!" she sobbed shaking him roughly. "They'll kill my family! I have to protect them! It can't be over!"

"Get off him!" Trip yelled in perfect sync with the other bed's occupant.

Malcolm tried to pull her off the man but she struck him across the face before collapsing to the floor. Malcolm staggered backwards and Trip reached to steady his friend.

"So," said the smaller man, wincing slightly. "You must be the originals, welcome to hell on Earth, home of hysterical maniacs and serious issues with reality."

"What have they done to you…us…?" Trip breathed his eyes widening dramatically as he took in the physical appearance of their clones. Naked, pale, painfully thin and completely hairless. The hand of his clone twitched in greeting.

"Ahh," the smaller man trailed off. "The question you should really be asking is -"

"Do we really want to know?" Malcolm finished for him.


	8. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The clones are referred to as Reed and Tucker and the originals as Malcolm and Trip

Tucker surveyed himself…the original…curiously. He looked more muscular than he remembered from his last glance into the bathroom mirror. Well, from what the scenario told him. The blond hair was a blonde as ever and Tucker found himself briefly entertaining the idea that Trip dyed his hair. The bars on the uniform told him that the original him had become Captain.

Glancing across at Reed and Malcolm he could see distinct differences between the two. For one thing, Malcolm had hair and the barest hint of a tan, Reed was hairless with milky white skin. Malcolm's hair seemed a lot more out of control than he remembered, slightly longer too. He seemed more relaxed, yet perhaps more alert than Tucker ever remembered him being.

It took him a moment to figure out the identity of the two officers who staggered into the room. One he didn't recognise at all…the other, an older, bloodier, version of Joe Walters an easy going, oddly humoured ensign who worked in the science department. But where was T'Pol? Or Captain Archer?

Tucker opened his mouth to speak but Reed beat him to it.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

Malcolm and Trip looked at each other. They stared at each for a long while, each trying to find the answer locked in the others eyes.

"I don't know," said Trip honestly. He glanced back to Walters and Lily. "We need to get Joe back to Enterprise."

"I'm fine," Walters told the wall.

"If you leave us here," said Reed finally. "Do me a quick favour first…" He locked eyes with Malcolm. "Kill me."

Tucker opened his mouth to tell Reed to shut up, tell him he was being stupid, but the words died on his lips. "You've given up." His tone was mildly accusing.

"We can't kill you!" Lily blurted out. She looked at Trip pleadingly. "Sir, shouldn't bring them back with us?"

Trip opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't find the right words.

"Lily, we don't even know which way is out…" Malcolm reminded her gently.

"You can't take them," Isobel muttered mutinously, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"What do you mean they can't take us?" Tucker asked feeling a hint of desperation creep into his voice.

"That's provided they even want carbon copies of themselves," said Reed rolling his eyes. "Give it up, they won't let us go."

"Well, it's nice to know you're such a little ray of optimistic sunshine!" Tucker bit back.

"They can't take you," Isobel repeated, louder this time. "It's a physical impossibility. They take you, you die."

"What?" Malcolm whispered, finding his voice. "What do you mean they'll die?"

Isobel shot him a withering look. "Do you not know what 'die' means? If you take them they will cease to function. They're just clones, they're kept alive by the machines that feed scenarios into their heads, the drugs currently zipping through their systems keep them well under control. Take them away and the withdrawal will kill them."

Reed clenched his fists and chewed on his bottom lip a moment. "Well, suffer withdrawal and die or spend the rest of my unnatural life with a hysterical maniac. As the old saying goes 'One door closes, and the rest slam shut'!"

"Phlox can help, I'm sure he can," said Trip quickly glancing over to Malcolm.

Malcolm remained silent, staring at his feet. He didn't raise his head to meet Trip's gaze. Could he cope with this? Did he want to cope with this? If Isobel was right about the withdrawal, would he want to watch himself die? Would he be able to kill…well, himself?

"I don't think Phlox can help this time," Reed whispered softly.

Lily lowered Walters to the ground; he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Reed watched them both intently. "At least not us."

Malcolm raised his head and stared at his clone. "Are you sure?"

Reed closed his eyes. "A little clarity would be nice for a change." He nodded.

"Sir!" Lily exclaimed. "You can't be possibly be thinking of doing this? It's murder!"

"I believe the term is euthanasia," Reed snapped back. "And he better bloody well be thinking of it too. I don't want to live like this! Don't you understand! I can't go with you because I'll die anyway, even if Phlox does find a cure I'll never be accepted, I won't know anything, I won't be able to do anything, years lying on a table can't be fantastic for muscles!" Reed turned his head to look at Tucker. "Can you honestly say you want to live a lie?"

Tucker paused; he didn't want to admit that Reed had a point. "I don't want a scenario…"

"Come with us," said Trip immediately. "Phlox can help you, you can both start new lives -"

"Either way you're going to die," said Isobel standing up and brushing off her uniform. She laughed. "They finally found you and you're going to die anyway! Oh that's just brilliant!" She laughed again, leaning against the wall for support.

"What about you?" Tucker asked suddenly. "Isobel, you're a prisoner as much as we are, surely you want to leave?"

Isobel's expression darkened. "If I leave my family dies," She spat. "I would suffer hell a thousand times over as long as they go unharmed!"

Silence fell. Trip stared down at Tucker. Reed seemed so determined to die; he seemed to be refusing to believe there was hope for him. But Tucker…Tucker just seemed so lost.

Reed turned his piercing gaze onto Trip. "The final decision rests with you, but if it helps any, in my six years of being alive I've gained thirty-four years worth of memories." His eyes flickered across to Malcolm. "I figure the galaxy can only handle one Malcolm Reed."

Tucker clenched his fists and turned to look at Reed. "It's amazing how someone who was screaming and trying to eat his lip earlier is now full of such amazing clarity of how he wants the rest of his life to be!"

Reed flinched and took a moment before replying quietly, "It's still my choice to make isn't it?"


	9. Leading Liars

"Sir! You can't do this!" Lily exploded. "It's wrong! It's murder!" Her head whipped round to look at Reed. "I don't care what you say it's still murder! Captain, we can get them to Phlox, Phlox can help them and if he can't at least we'll have tried! Captain, please! You can't do this!"

Reed's hand twitched in anger, Trip didn't even have chance to reply before Reed yelled "For God's sake! What the hell is wrong with you? Christ! Do they sell those Rose Tinted Glasses you've got pressed against your face?"

"That's bang out of order!" Malcolm snapped.

"You're just afraid to hope!" Lily shot back taking a step forward. "You're afraid to take a chance at life!"

"Damn right I'm afraid!" Reed hissed. "You don't know what its like to have friends, family, and a life, then to have it all taken away from you, to be told it was nothing but a LIE!"

"Malcolm, stop it," said Tucker quietly. "This isn't helping."

"I knew it!" Lily exclaimed.

"Ensign Chambers stand down!" Malcolm barked whipping round to face her, Lily stepped back in surprise pressing her back against the wall.

"With the greatest amount of…respect, can you all stop it," Walters murmured tiredly. "Or at least drop the volume a notch."

Trip bent down to examine Walters wound again, glad to have a moment to turn away and think. The wound seemed to be bleeding again. "How you doing, Joe?" He kept his voice low.

Walters blinked and shrugged slightly. "Except a gaping wound in my leg and a mild headache, I'm just peachy."

Malcolm stared at his clone, Lily had retreated looking ashamed and was now hovering uncertainly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I can't help it; it goes against everything I believe in…"

"But you've never had that belief tested," Tucker sighed. He turned his head to stare at Reed. Reed stared back, his expression that of cold determination. "You've really lost all hope, haven't you?"

Reed smiled slightly. "Trip, we were never meant to exist, we're just a medical experiment and a psychological study into humanity. At least, by doing this we give ourselves a choice over how to end our lives. Control, Trip, it's all about control."

Tucker nodded and closed his eyes. "We can control this."

Trip stood up. "It's all up to you." He wasn't sure he believed it. He wasn't entirely sure he would be able to pull the trigger when the time came. But now wasn't the time for being emotional, or being a Captain. Now was the time for the choice of someone else, and he had to respect that choice.

Isobel threw up her hands. "Will you make a decision! Kill them or don't kill them! Either way you won't get out of here! No one gets out!" She moved to within inches of Lily's face and grinned. "Not unless they're dead anyway."

"I would expect you to say that," said Lily standing her ground. "I don't think you even know the way out."

Isobel scowled and crossed her arms. "Of course I don't, only _They_ know the way out."

"Who's _They_?" Malcolm asked immediately ripping his attention away from his clone.

Isobel giggled loudly for a moment before skipping over to the corner and leaning against the wall. " _They_ are our leaders, Iona used to call them the Council, _They_ make me do this. Do you think I want to do this? Do you think I want to live their lie!" Her voice rose and became gradually more hysterical. "I don't want to do this but I have to! I have no choice! You have no choice! I exist to watch and the clones exist to teach, nothing more nothing less. Life doesn't matter! Death doesn't matter! _They_ can always make more! I thought _They_ were dead, but _They_ can't be! _They_ can never die; there will always be the Leading Liars! Those who control the lives of medical monstrosities and the Blissfully Ignorant! Only _They_ know and _They_ won't tell!"

She suddenly ran full pelt at Malcolm and shoved him back into the wall forcing the air from his lungs. He gasped but she held on while Trip and Lily tried to drag her off. "It's all just another experiment for them, that's why you're here! _They_ want to see if you will let the clones live or die! Can't you see! Can't you see!"

She released him in a rush and fell backwards dragging Trip and Lily down with her, Malcolm coughed air back into his lungs. The clones watched with detached interest. From his position on the floor, Walters sighed once and let his eyes slide shut.

Lily scrambled to her feet and hauled Trip up; Isobel lay on the floor staring at them. "So, what are you brave, flawless officers going to do then?" she sneered.

"The right thing of course," Tucker whispered smiling a little.

"I'm ready," said Reed simply.

Tucker turned his head to face Reed again. "Malcolm, it's been a surreal pleasure of horrific proportions."

Lily clutched hold of Trip's sleeve. "Captain…please don't…"

Malcolm laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's their choice." He looked up at Trip and let his hand drop. "I'll do it."

"I'm Captain here, this is my responsibility," said Trip firmly.

"Trip, you don't have to –"

"I'll do it!" Isobel snapped suddenly, leaping up and neatly taking Trip's phase pistol. "I'm surprised you people get anything done at all!" Spinning on her heel she turned and fired two shots.

The Away Team froze; Isobel nodded in satisfaction and went to check the clone's pulses. "Dead." She handed back the phase pistol and smiled. "See, now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"I can't believe you just did that," Lily uttered softly.

Isobel rolled her eyes. "I don't care; it's just another scenario anyway."

Trip and Malcolm slowly moved forward and stared at the dead clones. It was weird, seeing their own mortality staring them right in the face. The cold dead eyes staring into nothing and the lips twisted into one last relieved smile.

"What do mean, it's just another scenario?" Lily asked finally, breaking their silent examination of the dead.

"Life is just one giant scenario," Isobel snorted. "Reality is what we make of it, nothing more, nothing less. For all you know you could be just like them, tied into a Scenario Maker right now being watched over by an Angel and teaching the Leading Liars."

"I would know," said Malcolm turning round. "I would know." He tapped his head lightly. "In here."

In a terrifying moment of lucidity, Isobel laughed coldly. "You know, that's exactly what they thought, right before they woke up here."

The wall ahead slid open to reveal the planet outside. Isobel nibbled her lip thoughtfully. "Looks like _They_ have finished with you."


	10. Bluff

Lily looked from the Captain and the Commander to the clones lying motionless on the tables. "Are we going to take them with us?"

Isobel moved quickly in front of the clones. "Well, you could waste time and take them with you…" She smiled cheekily and patted Reed's head.

"Captain, we can't leave them here," said Lily quietly.

Isobel scowled and shoved Lily roughly. Lily cried out and stumbled into Malcolm who winced when she connected with his tender, abused skin.

"I'm still speaking!" Isobel snapped haughtily, folding her arms.

Malcolm's hand twitched near Trip's phase pistol, he seemed itching to take it out and shoot her. Trip tore his eyes away from the dead clones and turned to face her.

Isobel leapt back onto to one of the tables, knocking one of Reed's legs off, leaving it hanging limply. "As I was saying," she said calmly checking her filthy nails. "You could take these literal dead lumps of weight with you… or you get your unconscious friend over there back to your ship before he expels the last of his blood all over my nice clean floor."

Lily pushed Malcolm away with a cry and fell to the floor beside Walters. His skin was deathly pale, Trip feared for the worst as he knelt beside Lily and fumbled for a pulse.

"Come on, Joe," Lily encouraged. "Wake up."

He didn't move. Trip finally found a pulse, thrumming slowly beneath his fingers.

"He's still alive," Trip announced. "We have to get back to the ship – now."

With Malcolm's help, Trip grabbed Walters in a fireman's carry. Isobel waved to them cheerfully. "If he dies it's all your fault!" she said beaming.

"Shut up!" Lily screamed turning and throwing all her weight into a punch.

Isobel screeched and launched herself at Lily. Malcolm yanked out Trip's phase pistol and pointed it at her. Isobel slowed and shrank back.

Trip hurried towards the exit flanked by Lily, Malcolm bringing up the rear his weapon trained on Isobel. She waved cheekily to him as the exit closed.

Isobel paused a few moments, listening intently.

**_"The originals have left, Angel."_ **

Isobel started, They were speaking to her. Instantly she straightened up and smoothed down her uniform with care.

**_"Did the copies live?"_ **

Isobel hesitated and carefully reached to check for the clones pulses. She gulped. "No sirs…but I didn't let them take the bodies!"

**_"Fresh copies will be supplied, return the dead copies to the morgue for physical analysis. You have performed adequately; your family shall remain unharmed. At this time we do not believe the originals will return, however, they may attempt to destroy the facility. Rebuilding will wait till the vessel has left orbit."_ **

Isobel nodded. "May I leave for a fresh uniform, sirs?"

**_"Yes. You did well; we believe the subjects truly believed you mad."_ **

Isobel smiled. "Thank you, sirs. Drama was one of my favourite studies."

There was a pause, Isobel's smile fell and she feared that she had become to familiar. Finally They spoke, **_"We know this, it is why you were copied. Clean up. You have saved your family…for now. Speak of this study to no one, remember what it is for."_**

Isobel hesitated a moment, then nodded. "For the good of the people," she murmured to herself. "For the survival of my family."

Outside the building, the Away Team moved swiftly towards the shuttlepod. None of them said a word.

Lily hit the door release and Trip climbed in then laid Walters down on one of the benches. Wordlessly Lily moved over to the comm. barely acknowledging Malcolm as he climbed in and settled himself in the pilot's seat.

"Shuttlepod One to Enterprise," said Lily clearly. "Enterprise respond."

There was a momentary crackle of static, then…

_"We were beginning to get worried, what happened?"_

"Later, Baker, just have Phlox on standby when we get back, Joe's been shot, he's bleeding badly."

_"Will do. Hurry home."_

Lily cut the communication and turned to the back of the shuttlepod where Trip was attempting to help Walters. She didn't say a word as she watched them.

Malcolm quickly got the shuttlepod into the air, trying to keep his composure, the days events threatening to overwhelm him. Seeing himself, lying there so vocal and then so still. That twisted smile of relief that crossed his clone's face when he died shook him to the core.

He pushed his wayward thoughts back, bringing himself into focus by remembering the pain in his body from the attack by the alien soldier earlier.

Beside him Lily shifted slightly and closed her eyes. She could still see the twisted expressions on the clones faces as they died…even worse, she could still see in her mind's eye the dead mutilated clone of Malcolm staring up at her from the depths of the cupboard his body had been carelessly shoved into. She could smell the stench of death rising from the staring corpse.

Her eyes flew open and she once more focused her gaze on the two in the back. The Captain, leant over Walters' leg tending the wound, seemed older than he'd ever been. His face creased in worry and confusion, the light of the shuttlepod reflecting on the slight greying in his hair and his stance suggesting the worries of the universe rested on his shoulders.

Hours later finally nestled safely aboard the Enterprise; Trip found himself hovering at Sickbay doors. It had been touch and go for a moment with Walters, but after swift surgical intervention by Phlox the prognosis looked good for the young Lieutenant.

Trip wasn't entirely certain why he was here, he had found himself checking on everything in the ship just to assure himself it was real and it was there. He opened the door and saw Lily sat at Walters bedside.

Phlox's bat screeched once and Trip left. He headed towards Malcolm's quarters but again paused at the door. He raised his hand to the door bell and let it hang there.

He knew he couldn't intrude, but he couldn't let his hand fall. He took one last deep breath and finally walked away down the empty corridor.


	11. The Contemplation of Coffee

Trip sipped his coffee thoughtfully; it had been one hell of a week involving several 'discussions' with Starfleet about the away mission to The Planet. The upshot of these discussions had been that they would discuss it in more detail when they returned to Earth.

Detail? If he went into anymore detail during those discussions he'd have told them the colour of everyone's underwear and the state of said underwear post mission.

On the upside Walters had been released from sickbay, trailed closely by Lily, who seemed to have permanently attached herself to him when not on duty.

Trip sighed and set his coffee mug down. He hadn't slept more than a few hours in days, every time he closed his eyes he saw the clones, dead on those tables, smiling in twisted relief.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Trip barely managed to stop himself almost leaping from his chair at the sudden sound. Malcolm slid into the seat beside him.

"It's my new time management plan," Trip replied lifting his mug again. "I'm replacing sleep with some time for reflecting on nothing in particular." He lazily swirled his coffee. "I keep seeing us dead."

Beside him Malcolm nodded. "Me too…"

There was a pause while both of them stared out the window. Finally Trip turned to Malcolm. "Have you told Emma what happened?"

"I summarised."

Trip smiled slightly and returned his attention to his coffee. Malcolm glanced at the mug. "How long have you been sat here?"

Trip shrugged, Malcolm gave a slight grin. "Long enough to contemplate Life, the Universe and Everything?"

Trip rolled his eyes. "I know you're tired when you start quoting the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

"When life gets tough, the tough turn to Adams and Pratchett," said Malcolm quietly, offering a tiny smile.

Malcolm rose to his feet, moments later he returned with two fresh mugs of coffee. Trip accepted it wordlessly.

"Why do you think they did it?" Malcolm asked finally. "I have a theory…"

Trip's face darkened. "I don't want to know why they did it, wasn't the fact they did it in the first place enough?" He sighed. "I just keep seeing us, lying on those damn tables…lab rats in their damn experiment…God, Malcolm, they wanted to die by the end of it."

Trip stared out the window for a while before letting his gaze slid over to Malcolm, who seemed to be contemplating his coffee.

Trip sighed. "So what was the theory?" he asked quietly.

Malcolm looked up. "Actually I have two." He sipped his coffee. "The first being that what they did was their way of learning about different cultures. Watching how humans behaved to understand us better."

Trip pulled a face. "What's the second theory?"

Malcolm smiled briefly. "My second theory is that they're just sadistic bastards."

Trip nodded grimly. "That sounds about right." He stared at Malcolm's mug. "You should get back to Emma, she'll be wondering where you are."

Malcolm shook his head. "I'm quite happy where I am for the moment."

Trip smiled slightly and they descended into companionable silence.


End file.
